With Apple expected to take the wraps off its second-generation iPad in the next few months, talk has focused largely around the potential hardware enhancements to the tablet device, including rumors of an SD Card slot that AppleInsider sources now suggest is unlikely to materialize.

SD Card Slot Rumors

That particular rumor appears to have gained its legs back in December when a pair of China-based case manufacturers leaked images of their upcoming iPad 2 protectors, which were presumably based off design schematics that often originate from Apple ahead of new product introductions and get passed around gray markets in the Far East.

One of those cases was reportedly accompanied by documentation that 'suggested' one of its cutouts could provide access to an SD Card slot like those commonly found on today's MacBook Pros, while another was a circular opening for a rear camera that would accompany a front-mounted camera for Apple's FaceTime technology.

The SD Card slot rumor gained a few more shots in the arm earlier this month through a handful of media reports and AppleInsider's discovery of yet another set of next-gen iPad cases, which suspiciously included a cutout for a slot on the upper left-hand side, opposite to where you'd find the volume and mute controls on the existing iPad.

In a mockup analysis of all the openings and recesses in those cases, it was speculated that that left-side opening could represent the much-rumored SD Card slot. However, a person that AppleInsider trusts on matters such as these has since rebutted that notion, stating instead that the break in the next-gen iPad enclosure at that location is actually a relocation of the tablet's SIM card slot.Â*(This could signal a smaller logic board in the next iPad and better battery life via and even larger battery).

That may explain why some of the other next-gen iPad casings making the rounds don't sport the same opening, as users of 3G iPads aren't likely to need ready access to the SIM slot on a daily basis. And like Gruber's sources on the subject, the same person referenced above gave no indication that there's an SD Card slot elsewhere on the device.

Missing Features

Still, that's not to say an SD Card slot hasn't been considered or won't surface in the future, as Apple is notorious for yanking features from its hardware designs in the final moments before the products hit the assembly lines. Sometimes they resurface in a latter revision, while others are forgone forever.

For example, there were two core I/O features heavily rumored leading up to last year's launch of the current iPad which failed to materialize on the shipping product because they were axed by the Cupertino-based company right before the device went into production.

The first, and most publicized, was a forward-facing camera. (There were also prototypes of a model featuring two cameras -- one on the front, one on the back -- like the iPad that's expected to debut this year, according to people familiar with the matter.) Evidence to this end quickly turned up in the first teardowns of the device last spring.

"From our original teardown what we found most interesting was the ambient light sensor connector," Luke Soules, co-founder and teardown specialist at iFixit, told AppleInsider. "That connector has way more pins than you'd need for just an ambient light sensor and looks more similar to a typical camera connector."

That connector is highlighted in red in the photo above. "Also, next to that connector, highlighted in blue [Â] you can see unused solder points for a BGA [ball grid array] chip which could have been intended for a camera control chip," Soules added. "We think Apple was intending to put a camera in the original iPad, but for some reason changed their mind at the last minute."

Meanwhile, another I/O feature once planned for the inaugural iPad and pulled at the last minute was a second Dock Connector that would have allowed the tablet to be used in landscape mode with accessories like Apple's iPad Dock with Keyboard, according to people familiar with the device's initial development.

According to those same people, vague signs of that aborted implementation are also evident in early teardown photos of the iPad's logic board but hidden beneath a piece of black tape around the left-hand side of the device near the SIM connector flex, which is also said to sport a few too many pins to have been designed exclusively for a SIM .

Indeed, photographs of a first-gen iPad enclosure showing both portrait and landscape Dock Connector ports would later surface but were misreported at the time by those who discovered them as potential enclosures for the second-generation iPad. It's unlikely that this proposed feature will ever see the light of day.

When asked -- given his insight into Apple's hardware designs and logistics -- what he thinks of the rumors that Apple would be adding an SD Card slot to the iPad at this time, Soules said, "I don't see it happening."

For more on Apple's second-generation iPad, see AppleInsider's iPad 2 information archive.

I don't understand why you guys keep showing this case as having a hole at the top for a "mini-display port." There is less rumour (and no solid factual evidence at all), telling us that hole is for a mini-display port, than there is for the SD card slot.

This is supposedly a definitive article saying the SD slot isn't going to be happening, but yet you include this wild rumour about the mini-display port that makes no sense, has no support even in the rumour-sphere, and already has a perfectly good explanation (it's actually rumoured to be for the new ambient light sensor).

Why, why, why would they put a mini-display port, on the top of the computer when there is already a standard (at least to Apple) video-out port on the bottom of the very same computer?

The whole idea is ridiculous. Even if it's not the ambient light sensor, it's way more likely to be a micro-usb port than a mini-display port up there.

Apple were never going to give away an SD card slot when they can charge much more for built-in storage.
More interested in where are the Sandy Bridge Macs... Previously we've had Intel announce new chips and Apple launch at the same time. It has been ages now!

Why would a case have an opening for a SIM card? It's not like it's something that you really need access to. In the rare case that you needed to access it you would just take the iPad out of it's case...

Well, if you think someone is leaking information, the best way to be sure it's them is to show them fake information that no one else sees, then, see where it ends up. The SD slot rumor could just be the result of a counter-industrial-espionage effort. Anyone been fired or arrested lately?

Why would a case have an opening for a SIM card? It's not like it's something that you really need access to. In the rare case that you needed to access it you would just take the iPad out of it's case...

Exactly what I was thinking. Nearly every case for the 3G iPad covers the SIM card slot, mainly since it's never really meant to be removed. It doesn't make sense to have a carve out for it.

An SD card slot would make sense for people to easily offload photos onto it without the need of a computer or dongle, so there's still the possibility of it happening. But for the sim card? hardly.

SD always made more sense to me than USB... but both are niche enough that theyd be nice, yet not of much mainstream use. We forum-goers are not the mainstream in question! (Of course, as a tech spec fan as much as anyone, one more bullet point IS fun to me! So I hope theres some new connector or two. If not, its not a dealbreaker for me.)

Its OK to leave that kind of thing as an accessory; some people would use it, some wouldnt.

What I REALLY want is retina display, and I think I need a time machine or I cant have it...

Rumors always over exaggerate what the next update of Apple products will be and are seldom accurate. I think we will just see a slimmer lighter case with a A4 processor and 512K memory, 1 or 2 small cameras and nothing else new. All these rumors about a A5 processor, extra ports, and a retina display are just made up rumors. I would like to see them be true but it doesn't seem likely. Apple just doesn't move that fast.

Apple is trying to get away from old technology, like SD cards (as much as the manufacturers would like you to think of it as new, because it's SDHC or such). If you have a camera or camcorder, you can always se an adapter, but I suspect that Apple will encourage the use of secure cloud storage rather than on a chip. iPads already have wireless-N included, and you can always get an EyeFi card for your camcorder or camera.

this may be short sighted on my part...but I don't want the new iPad to have either USB or an SD card.

I don't want to be fiddling around with SD cards or thumb drives...I use my iPhone exclusively for photos and video. And I certainly don't want any cables (USB) "dangling" from my iPad. I hate cables!

I'm waiting for the the next gen., iPad not because I think the second gen., will be lighter, faster, thinner with new features (that's a given with Apple), it's simply, I didn't have the "cabbage" when the first gen iPad was introduced....All I could afford was the iPhone 4 (selling my 3Gs).

Anyway...Best

PS. If I went on an African safari, perhaps I would invest in an SLR. But if I did, I would also invest in a wifi SD card too. Again I don't want to have to remember to carry or carry cables and crap around if I can avoid it! Best

Apple is trying to get away from old technology, like SD cards (as much as the manufacturers would like you to think of it as new, because it's SDHC or such).

That's why Apple, after years of not having SD card slots on their computers, not only put SD card slots on EVERY computer they sell, but nigh-on future-proofed them by making all the slots SDXC, of which virtually no cards even exist yet, with the spec having at least a decade more life in it.

I really don't see Apple adding an SD card slot. I don't think it's what most people want. I haven't touched an SD card in about 5 years. There is just no benefit for most users. No way!

How the hell is it your place to talk about what 'normal people want', and decide what benefits most users? You're the one who is positively abnormal, if you haven't 'touched an SD card in about 5 years'. Um, what? SD cards are the most standard, popular and widely used storage cards by far. What percentage of digital cameras today offer wireless transfer? Virtually nil. Apple just added an SD card slot to its newest notebook, the Macbook Air, and recently has been adding it to the rest of its notebook lines, meaning that it's obviously not some type of outdated technology. Why would they do that? It's not going anywhere anytime soon. Being able to pop the SD card directly from your camera into the iPad to view/copy photos would be brilliant, and is definitely a feature most users would appreciate. It would make perfect sense since the iPad is so mobile, perfect to take on trips, and is marketed as a fantastic photo viewer. Right now, its such a bitch to add photos to it, needing to buy and use an ugly addon, or use another computer as the middle-man.

Apple were never going to give away an SD card slot when they can charge much more for built-in storage.
More interested in where are the Sandy Bridge Macs... Previously we've had Intel announce new chips and Apple launch at the same time. It has been ages now!

The primary purpose of an SD card slot was not to add to machine storage but to provide an easy way to grab image files from a non-pro camera. (Most pro cameras use Compact Flash, although some have both CF and SD.)

very unlikely apple would add an sd card slot, then they won't be able to control sales of their higher flash size ipads, who would buy an 128 gb top of the line ipad, if you can stick an sd card to the lowest gb ipad for extra storage. Unless they cripple it to only photos say.

And also how do you manage storage from an external sd card with no visible files system so to speak of, how do you manage an sd card slot without a finder? They could always make an app to access it and have anything there open up in it's respective app when touched...but that's a very un-apple way of doing things.

iOS, as it stands now, doesn't support a file system. An SD card would be only useful for transferring photo's to the iPad. Apple already offers the rather ugly camera kit, which gives the niche people USB and SD card access to the iPad, without those who don't want it bearing the incremental additonal cost.

However I do wonder where alll the rumors have gone that are Mac related. There has been nothing of late. At least nothing based on leaks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobH

Apple were never going to give away an SD card slot when they can charge much more for built-in storage.
More interested in where are the Sandy Bridge Macs... Previously we've had Intel announce new chips and Apple launch at the same time. It has been ages now!

With Apple expected to take the wraps off its second-generation iPad in the next few months, talk has focused largely around the potential hardware enhancements to the tablet device, including rumors of an SD Card slot that AppleInsider sources now suggest is unlikely to materialize.

Its exciting with new 'graphics'...

But really? The rumor that the rumor is unlikely to materialize is News?

very unlikely apple would add an sd card slot, then they won't be able to control sales of their higher flash size ipads, who would buy an 128 gb top of the line ipad, if you can stick an sd card to the lowest gb ipad for extra storage. Unless they cripple it to only photos say.

The above is the most asinine view I've yet to read with respect to SD flash storage. Having an SD slot would have zero impact on high end sales.

Quote:

And also how do you manage storage from an external sd card with no visible files system so to speak of, how do you manage an sd card slot without a finder?

1. The same way they do with the camera connection kit!
2. Update the OS to allow apps to access the SD just like they do their local storage.

Quote:

They could always make an app to access it and have anything there open up in it's respective app when touched...but that's a very un-apple way of doing things.

If they support camera connection kit functionality that would be enough for most users. It is certainly a need I have. However you seem to believe it is impossible for Apple to update the SDK in a way that allows for Apple like access. This is silky as they could easily do so as it is a software issue.

Your first mistake is making the assumption that this sort of feature would be used as an expansion of a devices internal flash storage. That really isn't the function of flash SD cards. For one they are to slow. For another the common use case is file transfer. In the end I just don't think you understand SD cards and the reasons why people would want the cards in the machines.

How many folks do you know that bought iPhone 4 just for FaceTime?
Apple would not build any iPad without a FaceTime camera.
Personally, I don't need a rear facing one, I actually own cameras with great lenses -- and an iPhone for snapshots.
SD I would like -- Front facing camera means that I'll buy the new iPad!

Apple is too big now to listen to what people want. They will tell us what we want.
It started with killing ADB, then floppies, then the 'happy Mac' logo, cd drive... Steve Jobs has gone mad with power... maaaaad

I do not believe we will see an SD card on the iPad or iPhone anytime in the future.

Why bring iPhone into this discussion.

Quote:

it breaks the 'use' model of the device class. The iPad/iPhone are consumption devices.

Garbage! You pull a SD card from your camera an put it in an iPad you are consuming that content. That is one, the second item is this: if this was the use case Apple was after why do a camera connection kit at all. More so why would they support the importation of those photos with their own software.

Quote:

MacBooks, iMacs, Pros are content creation.

Yep and so is a camera. Do you see where your reasoning is trashed here?

Or photo card goes into an iPad while out in the field so that work can be reviewed and backed up! You don't need to even bother with editing for the iPad to be very useful to a photographer outside of a studio. IPad with a high resolution screen would be even better.

As to photo editing that like would not even come into the equation until iPad 2. IPad currently doesn't have the ram for anything but trivial editing.

Quote:

iOS, as it stands now, doesn't support a file system.

Sure it does. How do you think that all of these features get supported in the first place. The file system is not exposed to the user via a separate file system browser but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

Quote:

An SD card would be only useful for transferring photo's to the iPad. Apple already offers the rather ugly camera kit, which gives the niche people USB and SD card access to the iPad, without those who don't want it bearing the incremental additonal cost.

The incremental cost is trivial. Besides as you point out the camera connection kit is ugly and expensive.

I have to agree with much above other than the low priority you place on RAM and a new dual core SoC. RAM is very important because it drastically impacts what software is possible on iPad 2. A new SoC is needed because of the current iPads poor performance when CPU bound.

So while I agree an SD slot is of lower priority than many things in iPad 2, leaving it out shouldn't happen either. It would be a very useful improvement.

Quote:

What do people think about a bluetooth sharing between iDevices? To tranfer pictures from iPhone to iPad?

As far as I'm concerned Blutooth is a failure beyond headsets. Apple might be able to drive the acceptance of new Blutooth features but they seem unwilling to do so. In the end why not use something like iTunes? After all you insist that iPad is a consumption only device.

Apple is too big now to listen to what people want. They will tell us what we want.

The new AIRs are a perfect example of Apple listening to people. Mostly the whine about AIRs original high price. Apple TV is another example. Further back in time the Mini was overhauled and improved in a way that reflected that people at Apple where readin AI. They seem to even listen about little things like the screen lock.

In the end I think you are wrong in one sense. You may be right in another in that they font listen in the traditional sense of a big corporation with focus groups and other questionable methods.

Quote:

It started with killing ADB, then floppies, then the 'happy Mac' logo, cd drive... Steve Jobs has gone mad with power... maaaaad

Rumors always over exaggerate what the next update of Apple products will be and are seldom accurate. I think we will just see a slimmer lighter case with a A4 processor and 512K memory, 1 or 2 small cameras and nothing else new. All these rumors about a A5 processor, extra ports, and a retina display are just made up rumors. I would like to see them be true but it doesn't seem likely. Apple just doesn't move that fast.

The A4 is a joke as an iPad processor. For Apple to do as you suggest they might as well turn over the iPad to another company. Simply put they would go from leading the market to playing catch up.

The rumors are just that. On the otherside you have consummer expectations and the competition. Both will push Apple in the direction of a major upgrade.

I don't understand why you guys keep showing this case as having a hole at the top for a "mini-display port." There is less rumour (and no solid factual evidence at all), telling us that hole is for a mini-display port, than there is for the SD card slot.

This is supposedly a definitive article saying the SD slot isn't going to be happening, but yet you include this wild rumour about the mini-display port that makes no sense, has no support even in the rumour-sphere, and already has a perfectly good explanation (it's actually rumoured to be for the new ambient light sensor).

Why, why, why would they put a mini-display port, on the top of the computer when there is already a standard (at least to Apple) video-out port on the bottom of the very same computer?

The whole idea is ridiculous. Even if it's not the ambient light sensor, it's way more likely to be a micro-usb port than a mini-display port up there.

Does anyone have an argument as to why mDP would be included and why it would be at the opposite end from where the 30-pin connector is? To me, it seems like the exact opposite Apple would do but I’m open to your ideas.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Apple is too big now to listen to what people want. They will tell us what we want.
It started with killing ADB, then floppies, then the 'happy Mac' logo, cd drive... Steve Jobs has gone mad with power... maaaaad